A resource for the minor in film studies at Western Oregon University.

February 1, 2006

Film event at Mission Mill Museum

February 16, 7:30 p.m., Richard Etulain, History Communicated through Film.

Films about the American West have entertained audiences around the world for more than a century. Why have these adventure stories, with their simplistic plot lines and stereotypical portrayals of cowboys and Native Americans, dancehall girls and local schoolmarms so captured our imagination? Do these films deal primarily with the historical West, or are they a reflection of sociopolitical attitudes at the time of their making? How does a combination of these impulses allow Westerns to resonate so deeply in the American psyche?

Richard Etulain’s slide-illustrated lecture offers insights to these questions through a historical overview of one hundred years of Western films. By considering classics like Stagecoach, High Noon, and Shane as well as modern Westerns like Geronimo, Lone Star and Thelma and Louise, participants will explore the popular genre’s changing images of heroes and heroines, Native Americans and attitudes about the environment.